Monthly Archives: October 2012

“The Tipping Point” definition is, in a nutshell ‘the crisis stage in a process, when a significant change takes place.’ I had such a tipping point last September when cancer suddenly appeared in my life (Please read My Story for more detail). It’s a kind of critical mass that breaks out into something entirely new. It’s there for a definite purpose, to awaken you and open a new consciousness and a new way of doing things. When the unexpected becomes expected or, perhaps a form of radical change.

Of course we’ll fight it tooth and nail at first, not all roads to Rome are neat, orderly and transparent! I often felt like Alice in Wonderland back then, once, I knew who I was, but I began to change so much that I was not sure who I was becoming! Progress can be “messy and opaque” and often follows a herky-jerky path that evolution sometimes follows. This is where my simple “BAT” philosophy comes to my rescue that I mention often in earlier posts. Belief, Acceptance and Trust. Besides the love of my family and friends, it was my only savior, along with my firm belief that The Universe Knows and is there to support, nurture and assist you through these changes.

Changes do not always unfold comfortably, and our minds can feel like they are growing out of old clothes. Ernest Holmes, the illustrious and dynamic founder of the Science of Mind thinking explains, “We know that thought is constantly changing, forever taking on new ways of expression. It cannot possibly remain permanent.” The Dalai Lama, one of our most revered spiritual leaders, recognizes that people want to be happy and avoid suffering. However, often our minds seize on “addictive emotions,” default positions of fear, anger, hatred and dismay as immediate responses to what lies before us.

When at that tipping point, know that you are never alone. Your perfect outcome is never in doubt. Put yourself in a position of thinking that this good IS coming to you with your firm Belief, Acceptance and Trust in the process. You hold great power, and this power of self and knowing your Oneness with the Universe always brings quiet calmness to a turbulent situation. The Dalai Lama always brings Love into any situation, for love cannot fail to affect the mental atmosphere. When he enters a room, he brings the strength of his love for others, the thoughtful discipline he has forged for decades, and the humor that awaits the opportunity. Love shines the way.

In the end, Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action, to feel certain that your future in this moment is in the hands of a greater power. Believe, Accept and Trust the process.

The purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best that is within us. It is only through our own personal awakening that the world can be awakened.

When you realize that you always have the answers within yourself, you can stop searching outside of yourself.

Many of us seek the answers to life’s questions by looking outside of ourselves and trying to glean advice from the people around us. But as each of us is unique, with our own personal histories, our own sense of right and wrong, and our own way of experiencing the world that defines our realities, looking to others for our answers is only partially helpful. The answers to our personal questions can be most often found by looking within. When you realize that you always have access to the part of you that always knows what you need and is meant to act as your inner compass, you can stop searching outside of yourself. If you can learn to hear, trust, and embrace the wisdom that lives within you, you will be able to confidently navigate your life.

Trusting your inner wisdom may be awkward at first, particularly if you grew up around people who taught you to look to others for answers. We each have exclusive access to our inner knowing. All we have to do is remember how to listen. Remember to be patient as you relearn how to hear, receive, and follow your own guidance. If you are unsure about whether following your inner wisdom will prove reliable, you may want to think of a time when you did trust your own knowing and everything worked out. Recall how the answers came to you, how they felt in your body as you considered them, and what happened when you acted upon this guidance. Now, recall a time when you didn’t trust yourself and the results didn’t work out as you had hoped. Trusting your own guidance can help you avoid going against what you instinctively know is right for you.

When you second guess yourself and go against what you know to be your truth, you can easily go off course because you are no longer following your inner compass. By looking inside yourself for the answers to your life’s questions, you are consulting your best guide. Only you can know the how’s and why’s of your life. The answers that you seek can be found when you start answering your own questions.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I had to go within, deep within to trust the guidance that was there for me to follow through with. With my mind racing along with all the “What If’s” and countless appointments at Northwestern Hospital, that process was indeed, not easy! In fact, my life was so consumed at that time and with the need to drive 60 miles each way 5 days a week, I found that my only quiet time was in the car as I drove to my treatments. There I could focus on my own version of a driving “meditation/affirmation” style of instructing my mind and body of the ongoing treatment process and complete belief that I was going to get through this treatment with no lasting effects.

The following I find very helpful with this process:

* Train your mind to think with “What If Up Thinking” – such as “What if the current situation in my life is EXACTLY what I need to grow through?”*

* Feel and Say what you are grateful for. State it aloud and let that gratefulness sink in.

* Smile as often as you can, no matter what!

* Laugh too, frequently. It’s such a healthy way of releasing anxieties and concerns.

* Read/Listen to other success stories and inspirational speakers knowing that if that person can do it, you most certainly can too!

As always, feel free to contact me for any comments, questions, advice. I would love to hear from you and most certainly, THRIVE!!

Five or six centuries ago, when the Church was burning scientists at the stake as heretics, a deal of sorts was struck in order to stop the slaughter: the Church would retain primacy over the internal world, while the Science would take charge of the external. The split between inner and outer became only more entrenched with the work of learned people such as Descartes and Newton. They proclaimed that the Universe and everything in it operate like a machine. They also believed, as did the Church, that mind and body are separate entities, and that the pure, lofty intellect was vastly superior to the frail, disgusting body. Taken together, all these forces created the belief in separation, which became entrenched in their time and continues today, still driving much of what we do and believe.

This Western scientific belief in separation has led to many tragedies. On the global scale, they include environmental destruction and climate change. On the individual scale, the tragedies include situations such as war and healthcare as something done to us from the outside.

Unlike Western science, however, Eastern spiritual systems have for millennia proclaimed Oneness, the unity of all things, rather than separation. This includes the belief that mind and body are one inseparable entity, together forming the whole of who we are.

And in recent decades, quantum physics has demonstrated that this unity is, in fact, the truth of our existence. From the tiniest atomic article to the largest planet, from the smallest cell to the most immense galaxies, everything exists together in an infinitely intricate web of interconnection. Furthermore, with the work of organizations, it is being clearly demonstrated that the mind/body split does NOT exist.

With this expanding knowledge coming from rigorous scientific study as well as personal experience, it is becoming obvious to growing numbers of people that true, solid solutions to the major challenges we face today do not come from the outside. Rather, the lasting solutions must come from within: to change the world, it is necessary to first change our consciousness. When Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell flew to the moon, he was part of a highly scientific and technological program designed to explore outer space. He was, and is, a scientist and engineer who demands proof of any hypothesis. Yet, heading home to Earth after his walk on the moon, he had a mystical experience of an intense sense of universal connectedness. It was his epiphany in which he realized, without question, that Earth is part of a living system that embraces EVERYTHING and that we all participate in a “Universe of Consciousness.”

Seized with the conviction that the most important work for the human race in the twentieth-century and beyond was not to be found in space or any other external realm, he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) soon after his return. ION’s mission is “supporting individual and collective transformation through consciousness research, educational outreach, and engaging a global learning community in the realization of our human potential.”

According to Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, PhD, immediate past president and CEO of IONS, “people assume that the solutions we’re seeking come from outside ourselves, but it’s important that we shift to an internal recognition that problems come from within ourselves, as do the solutions.” In other words, it’s all about consciousness. No one yet has fully defined consciousness or know its origin or even why it exists. But, like another unexplained phenomenon called “gravity,” we know it’s there, and we can describe it at least in general terms.

Schlitz thinks of it as a “process, and it’s not just about humans. It’s about the great unfolding of the nature of reality. It is a process by which we have self-reflection, awareness, and are able to self-correct.” Consciousness exists in various levels, according to Schlitz. For instance, our bodies are conscious because they can self-correct without our being aware of it – and they do so all the time by regulating our temperature, fighting off microbial invaders, and so on. Yet, when we become aware and use intention, we can direct consciousness through our mind-body for our HEALING. One of the most fundamental tasks facing society in this century, according to Schlitz, is “encouraging people to explore consciousness in ways that invite them to become more balanced, compassionate, appreciative of difference, and oriented toward pro-sociality,” or caring about the welfare and rights of others, feeling concern and empathy, and acting in ways that benefit them.”

However, “people are distracted, bombarded by ‘weapons of mass distraction.’ We don’t take mindful action, or if we do, it’s in circumscribed ways that are limited,” says Schlitz, “such as going to church one day a week and not living in that same spirit all the time. The question is, how can we become aware and break free of this cultural hypnosis rather than just being victims?”

The answer: transform our worldview so that new possibilities can emerge. For example, it is common to view Nature as something humans are meant to dominate. However, a transformation in worldview that leads to seeing how we are one with Nature makes us more likely to protect the environment and exist in harmony with it. “If there’s something yearning in us, it often comes because of a noetic experience (an inner knowing). We can have a positive experience that rocks our steady state, but more often it’s negative. Yet it can make us curious and move us into exploration rather than keeping us entrenched,” explains Schlitz.

We must build a practice to sustain and incorporate it into our lives. Your practice can be anything meaningful to you. It can be something as structured as formal meditation or yoga. Or, says Schlitz, it can be “anything where you’re bringing intention to your attention.” There are five elements to the process of changing our consciousness:

First is the intention to make positive, life-affirming changes. Second, is building spiritual practices out of our exploration, and shifting our attention from external to internal forces. Third, is repetition of our practice to build new behaviors to create a new habit. Fourth is guidance, which can come from many sources, such as a trusted teacher, reading an article, or a book that rocks you. Finally, all of these elements are wrapped in the arms of surrender. “It’s all about yielding to potential,” Schlitz says.

A growing chorus of voices, including many from science as well as spirituality, is calling for transformation of our worldview so that we can not only survive but THRIVE!!

-Excerpts taken from the Science of Mind October, 2012 issue of the article “The Ground of All That Is” written by Barbara Stahura.